Soviet dictator Josef Stalin destroyed much of the Soviet regional elite in the Great Purges of 1937 to 1939. While many explanations have been offered over the years, none has satisfactorily fit the evidence.

Applying anthropological methods to new archival material, Prof. Arch Getty, professor of history, University of California, suggests that the Stalinist system was in part a continuation of age-old Russian patrimonial and patriarchal “clan” politics.

Getty, who is a leading scholar of the Stalinist period and history of the Soviet Communist Party, gives a free public lecture at UBC’s Okanagan campus on Tuesday, March 18, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Room 121, Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research. This lecture is part of the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences Unit 6 Speakers’ Series.